


The Three Princes

by iwillnotbecaged



Series: Flying high without ever leaving the ground [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fluff, Multi, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Sam-Centric, mention of Natasha Romanov - Freeform, seriously this is so fluffy, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillnotbecaged/pseuds/iwillnotbecaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam's nephew wants Sam to tell him a story. Sam comes up with something that may or may not be based on a true story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Three Princes

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [pringlesaremydivision](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pringlesaremydivision) and [Ragazza_Guasto](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragazza_Guasto/pseuds/Ragazza_Guasto) for squeeing with me over this. And to the rest of the extravaganza squad for all the support and encouragement *blows kisses at all of you*

“Don’t forget you promised to tell me a story!”

“I haven’t forgotten. But brushing teeth comes before story time, so get in there and get going,” Sam said, nudging Jody into the apartment bathroom. Sam loved his nephew, but he wasn’t too upset that Sarah was coming home from her business trip tomorrow. Surprising as it may be, two supersoldiers and a pararescue were pretty evenly-matched when going up against an energetic 8-year-old.

Jody rinsed the toothpaste out of his mouth, declared his teeth sufficiently clean, and dragged Sam into the spare bedroom. A few minutes of pillow-fluffing and blanket-wrangling later, Jody was tucked into bed with Sam sitting in the chair to the side.

“You know, they do make Falcon pajamas,” Sam said, plucking at the shoulder of Jody’s Black Panther pajamas.

“I know. Steve got me some for my birthday. But T’Challa is way cooler.” Jody grinned up at Sam, looking eerily like his mother.

“Oh, that’s how it is?”

“That’s how it is. Now tell me a story!”

“Whoa there, mister. Are those the manners your mother taught you?” Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Please tell me a story, Uncle Sam?” Jody’s innocent face rivalled Steve’s and was only slightly more sincere.

“Better. What kind of story do you want? The next chapter of Harry Potter?”

“Can you make one up tonight?”

“Oh, you want a Sam Wilson original?” Jody nodded. “Well, let’s see…hmmmm...how about a fairytale?”

“Yes! I love fairytales! Is there a princess? Does she get to punch things?”

“No princess in this one, but there are three princes. And I’m betting there will be some punching.”

Jody snuggled farther down into the pillows. “Okay, that sounds good.”

“Alright then, here we go. Once upon a time, there were two princes. One prince had a magic shield, but he was very lonely. The other prince had lots of friends and family and was very, very handsome, but he had lost his wings.”

“Are these princes named Steve and Sam by any chance?” Jody said, side-eyeing Sam.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re very clever. Can I get back to the story now?” Jody rolled his eyes, but let Sam continue.

“One day Prince Steve and Prince Sam met. Sam helped Steve to not be so lonely and Steve helped Sam to get his wings back. Together they helped Queen Natasha defeat the evil monster, Hydra. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. We’ll get to that one some other time.

“Prince Steve and Prince Sam were very happy to have found each other, but Prince Steve was still sad. You see, his best friend and partner was the long lost Prince Bucky. Everyone in the kingdom thought that Prince Bucky had died many years earlier, but while fighting Hydra, Prince Steve had discovered that wasn’t true. Stories were circulating of a man seen with Hydra, a man with a metal arm and the face of a lost prince. Not everyone believed the rumors - they said that it wasn’t really Prince Bucky, or that if it was him, he was evil now. But Prince Steve was certain that it was his friend, and he was determined to save him.

“Prince Sam agreed to help Prince Steve, so off they went. They searched high and low, throughout their own kingdom and all the neighboring kingdoms. They had many adventures along the way and fought many different monsters, but there was still no sign of Prince Bucky. They were starting to get discouraged, Prince Steve especially.

“Then one day they got a message from Queen Natasha, the smartest and strongest and best queen in all the world.” 

Jody smiled at that. “I’ll make sure to tell her that’s how you described her.”

“I appreciate that. You can never earn too many points with Natasha.” Jody nodded sagely in agreement.

“Anyway, Queen Natasha told the princes that there had been reports that a six-headed dragon had taken over a castle deep in the forest. All the villagers had fled and when Queen Natasha took them into her kingdom, they told stories of strange noises from the castle and the mysterious sight of a man with a metal arm in the window of the tallest tower.

“Prince Steve and Prince Sam plunged into the forest in search of the castle. They stumbled through the dark trees and hacked at the thorns, trying to make a path. It seemed like they had been trudging through the forest for months, but still they couldn’t find the castle. Finally one day, just as night was falling, they came to a clearing deep in the forest, and there it was.

“The castle was huge and forbidding, with towers pointing up to the sky like jagged teeth and menacing gargoyles staring down at them. All but one of the windows was dark - the window in the tallest tower. Prince Sam unfurled his wings and grabbed Prince Steve and together they flew towards the tower, all the while keeping an eye out for the six-headed dragon.”

Jody looked at Sam with wide eyes and hugged his Bucky Bear to his chest just a little bit tighter.

“They made it to the tower window without being spotted and with no sign of the dragon. They climbed in the window and looked around the room with surprise - it was empty! There was a small, unmade cot, a table with an uncomfortable looking chair, a pile of clothes folded in the corner, but no Prince Bucky.

“Prince Sam and Prince Steve decided to split up. Prince Sam would fly around the castle’s towers and grounds to see if there was any sign of Prince Bucky or of the dragon. Meanwhile, Prince Steve would take his magic shield and make his way down the stairs to the center of the castle and head towards the front gate. There they would meet back up and figure out what to do next.

“Off flew Prince Sam, swooping and swerving around the various towers, peering in windows, worrying about what Prince Steve was doing. Had he found Prince Bucky? Had he found the dragon? Was he hurt or injured? At that thought, Prince Sam sped up and flew even faster around the castle, wheeling in the air and darting around obstacles, and looking very good doing it, if I may say so.”

Jody’s eyes slid over to Sam under drooping eyelids at that embellishment. The message was clear: get back to the story and finish it before I fall asleep on you. Sam smiled and continued.

“Prince Sam heard a loud noise as he was rounding the last tower and headed back toward the front gate. There it was, in the middle of the courtyard - an enormous dragon. And all six heads looking at Prince Steve!

“As Prince Sam flew toward them, he could see that Prince Steve was doing his best to fend off the streams of fire and snapping jaws with his magical shield. He dove as fast as his wings would carry him and joined the fight. Prince Sam bobbed and weaved, ducked and punched, flying around to distract the heads and getting in as many hits as he could.

“It soon became clear that Prince Steve and Prince Sam were not going to be able to defeat the dragon. Prince Sam’s wings were getting tired and he could see Prince Steve’s shield beginning to droop with the effort of the fight. All of a sudden, Prince Sam heard a fierce roar from the direction of the castle. A man was running down the steps toward them, the light of the dragon’s fire glinting off of something metal.”

Sam glanced over and saw that Jody was struggling valiantly against sleep, not wanting to miss what was clearly going to be the best part of the story.

“The figure rushed into the fray and with a quickness unlike any Prince Sam had ever seen, he darted under the dragon’s heads and stabbed it right in the heart. The dragon screamed in fury and its heads flailed wildly, almost knocking Prince Sam out of the sky. While trying to dodge the thrashing heads of the collapsing dragon, Prince Sam lost sight of Prince Steve and the other man.”

“The dragon finally lay defeated in the courtyard, tendrils of smoke coming from each of its nostrils. Prince Sam glided down to the ground, searching for Prince Steve and the man who had saved them. He looked frantically from side to side, and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw them stumbling away from the defeated monster. 

“As he got closer, he realized it wasn’t just the man’s sword that had been reflecting the light - his left arm was made of metal! The rumors were true and they had found Prince Bucky at last! 

“‘Oh, Bucky!’ Prince Steve exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders. ‘Is it really you? I’ve been looking for you for so long!’

‘It’s me,’ Prince Bucky replied. ‘Well, mostly.’ He wiggled his metal fingers at Prince Steve. ‘I’ve missed you too, punk. I wanted to return to the kingdom after you defeated Hydra and freed me from them, but I had a few things to take care of first.’ Prince Bucky gestured back in the direction of the dragon, which brought Prince Sam into his line of sight.

‘By the way, who’s the guy with the wings?’

‘Oh, um, well— well, he’s, um,’ Prince Steve stammered, his hands falling back down to his sides and a blush spreading across his face.

Prince Sam stepped forward to avoid having to see Prince Steve explode from embarrassment. ‘I’m Prince Sam. What I think Steve is trying to say is that I’m his boyfriend.’ Prince Sam offered his hand to Prince Bucky. ‘I’m glad to finally meet you, Prince Bucky. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

‘This guy talks about me a lot, huh? That’s good to hear.’ Prince Bucky shook his hand and looked him up and down, and then smirked. ‘I think we can dispense with the formalities, don’t you, Sam? Call me Bucky.’

‘Alright, Bucky. Whaddaya say we get this guy back home? I think we could all benefit from some time catching up.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Prince Bucky replied, placing one arm around each of the other princes’ waists. Prince Steve put his arm around Prince Bucky’s shoulders so that his fingertips were grazing the back of Prince Sam’s neck, and the three of them headed off together toward the dawn that was just breaking over the horizon.”

Sam slapped his hands onto his knees and stood up. “Well, there you have it, kiddo. Sweet dreams.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on Jody’s forehead. The boy’s eyes were already closed and he smushed his face deeper into his Bucky Bear as Sam stepped away.

Sam turned out the light and just as he was about to close the door, he heard a small voice from across the room.

“Uncle Sam, do the princes get to live happily ever after?”

Sam smiled into the darkness. “You know what? I think they do.”


End file.
